Talk:The morgue
Intro Update and Comments I made some changes to the introduction of this article to tighten up the focus on the fact that it was referring to a set. The general practice at a wiki is to define the page within the first sentence. The original wasn't quite making that happen. I moved the information pertinent specifically to Dr. Lambert to her article, moved a little more of that info later in the introduction, and added a small section to help clarify that people often refer to a morgue as "that general place where autopsies happen" rather than the room where bodies are stored awaiting autopsy. As for the rest of the article, I think it's a great start. I have a few little nitpicky quibbles, grammar-wise, but they're stylistic changes rather than problems. The only real thing that trips me up is tense. There are a few places in the article where tense goes from present to past. With the filming of the show completed, I struggle when I read any article that says "She is this person" or "This place is described thus." I expect to read "She was this person" or "This place was used for" instead. Oh, and the linking to other articles isn't terribly consistent. There are places where links don't exist and a few where the terms are just included in quotation marks but could be linked. I would like to see that handled more consistently.--Kodia 19:48, 11 February 2009 (UTC) :Tense is always a problem when writing about something like this. You get it with books, too: the book was written by the author in the past (obviously, since it had to be written before it was published), and this is discussed in the past tense; but, by convention, the characters and their actions are always described in the present. :I've tried to adapt that here by talking about the construction of the set and the actual filming process (e.g. lighting the set) in the past tense. Actual dates could theoretically be assigned to these things, though I have no idea what they might be. Construction and filming took place in the real world ("primary world", as Tolkien called it): the show is long since filmed and cancelled, and the sets broken up. :On the other hand, the existence of the tapes/DVDs of the show is equivalent to the bound volume of a book, and means that, in a very real sense, the "secondary world" (the world of the story) exists in an eternal present. Anyone, at any time, can go there. Natalie and her office therefore still exist there; and, for this reason, they must be discussed in the present tense. :This is the convention. :And yes, I too have trouble with it. I always have. (Which is why, occasionally, you will find a Character page done in the past tense.) In particular, I have trouble knowing what to do with the following: :— things that happened before the series began. As I understand it, these should be in the past tense because they occur before the time-line of the show. ("Nick came to Toronto three years ago.") :— terminal events. Since the show appears to end with practically everyone dead, should everything be past tense? As I understand it, no. "Last Knight" was a device to end the series. The secondary world deals with the series as a whole, since you can still watch any of the episodes. Therefore, you talk about their events in the present tense. :— people who die during the course of an episode. A variant on the second problem. Here I really do have trouble, since most of them never reappear in the show, and probably never would have, even if the show hadn't been cancelled. I try to work on the principle that, if they only die at the end of the episode (which happens with a lot of people in flashbacks), they should be talked about in the present tense, on the grounds that anyone re-watching the show will see them alive. :There are principles and conventions here. But confusing? You bet! -- Greer Watson 21:13, 11 February 2009 (UTC)